LINGUIST List 21.5166 Mon Dec 20 2010 Diss: Phonology: Candeias: 'A Phonological Study of Portuguese ...' Editor for this issue: Mfon Udoinyang <mfonlinguistlist.org> To post to LINGUIST, use our convenient web form at http://linguistlist.org/LL/posttolinguist.cfm. Directory         1.     Sara Candeias , A Phonological Study of Portuguese Language Variety Spoken in Beira Interior Region Message 1: A Phonological Study of Portuguese Language Variety Spoken in Beira Interior Region Date: 17-Dec-2010 From: Sara Candeias <saracandeiasco.it.pt> Subject: A Phonological Study of Portuguese Language Variety Spoken in Beira Interior Region E-mail this message to a friend Institution: Universidade de Aveiro Program: Linguistics Dissertation Status: Completed Degree Date: 2007 Author: Sara Candeias Dissertation Title: A Phonological Study of Portuguese Language Variety Spoken in Beira Interior Region Dissertation URL: http://biblioteca.sinbad.ua.pt/teses/2008000992 Linguistic Field(s): Phonology Subject Language(s): Portuguese (por) Dissertation Director: Jorge Morais Barbosa Dissertation Abstract: This PhD-dissertation proposes a model for a phonological description of the speech patterns attested in the Portuguese language variety spoken in Beira Interior region (in Fundão municipality). Our major goal was to present the main phone prototypes, which could be considered in the description of the Portuguese language, taking into account minority speech. To achieve our goal, the phonological domain was particularly considered for the linguistic status of 'variety'. By phonological analysis we mean description of the phonetic traces of the Portuguese BI regional speech, resulting in the description of units (phones), of the place that the units occupy in that Portuguese spoken language variety, and of the relations that the units establish in an act of speech. For this, we isolated all the characteristics that were found to be constantly used by the surveyed speakers. All the characteristics were analysed to point out prototypes using statistical form, which complemented the traditional approach. Based on phonological explanation theory, which is consistent with functionalism studies (Barbosa, 1983; Martinet, 2001) and generativist premises (Mateus and d'Andrade, 2000), our speech sound inventory referred directly to the finer-grained categories provided by phonetic theory. We assessed the phoneme as a sound class with similar pertinent features and those pertinent features were the phonetic elements detectable from categorical perception testing (e.g. (Fry, 1970; Harnad, 1987; Pisoni, 1994). We described the perceptible (allo)phone which reveals standardized distribution, according to phonetic context. We presented a standardized description of (allo)phones and allophones' load rate considering their occurrence in syllable context. With this approach, we asserted that it would be possible to discriminate the most used allophone, the least used allophone and the allophone that was in boundary regions. Through the analysis of the occurrence load rate, we distinguished optimal-center-of-gravity and phonetic-category boundaries of phonemes' realizations. We also assumed a speech categorical perception model as an operational stage. In this approach, we established it as both a result of a stimulus/percept dichotomous process which was correlated with the reviewing capabilities of discrimination and perceptual constancy, and a process correlated with an acoustic signal's perceptual activity in which most central structures of linguistic events were implicated. Based on those methodological guidelines, we assumed that a distinctive unit (as a phonemic pertinent feature) was one category recognized perceptibly in speech continuum procedure. Our belief was that phonological and phonetic-based of Portuguese variety spoken in BI contributes ultimately to extend (or redefine) the linguistic knowledge of Portuguese language. We propose that the linguistic documentation of Portuguese minority speech can be an optimal start for Portuguese speech system development process too. Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue Page Updated: 20-Dec-2010       About LINGUIST    |   Contact Us       While the LINGUIST List makes every effort to ensure the linguistic relevance of sites listed on its pages, it cannot vouch for their contents.